October 14, 2012

OPI The Man With The Golden Gun

Hi guys! Hope you're all having a great weekend so far! Apologies for the lack of a spam post this weekend, I went to a concert Friday night then I got home and our cat Oreo was sick so I was too preoccupied to edit and write a post. Anyway, today I have an awesome new OPI polish to share with you guys called The Man With The Golden Gun...I'm sure you've heard of it, right?

The Man With The Golden Gun is an 18K gold leaf top coat. It seems like these gold leaf polishes are all the rage right now, Sephora by OPI has one out and Zoya just recently put one out also (I believe it's sold out now). When I went into my local supply store to pick this up they showed me one that Jessica has out now also, I posted a bottle shot of it on my instagram here if you want to check that out...it's also on their website here.

I went back and forth about which of these gold flake top coats to buy (I actually talked myself into only getting one...amazing!), they all seem to be pricey so I went with the one in the prettiest packaging for my purchase. I have to give it to OPI for the way they have packaged this polish...the bottle is to die for, it's gold and all reflective and beautiful! It also comes in a nice collectors kind of box...it's a nice touch, makes me feel a little better about the hefty price tag.

I've layered The Man With The Golden Gun over a few different polishes, click the read more button after the photo to see all of them!

Alright, let's talk about the formula! I found the gold flakes to be a little sparse...more sparse than I expected. I would suggest giving this a good shake before applying it, since you can't see into the bottle I'm not sure if the flakes settle to the bottom or not but it seemed like I got a lot more on the brush if I shook it right before I put it on.

For application I had the best luck with brushing on a coat of the flakes then going back and dabbing on more on spots where I wanted them. That gave the most even coverage with the least amount of work. I had no issues with any kind of texture after a coat of top coat, the gold flakes weren't sticking up off the nail or anything of that nature!

P.S. all the base polishes in this post will be shown in the next week or so in case you're wondering....it's like a little preview of what's to come! Also, The Man With The Golden Gun bottle is pretty much like a golden mirror which means you can see my camera and my lovely purple tank top reflecting in like every photo, sorry about that!

The Man With The Golden Gun over Essie Where's My Chauffeur?

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The Man With The Golden Gun over Essie Snap Happy

The Man With The Golden Gun over OPI The Spy Who Loved Me

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The Man With The Golden Gun over OPI Tomorrow Never Dies

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The Man With The Golden Gun over Zoya Aurora

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The Man With The Golden Gun over Zoya Logan

The Man With The Golden Gun over Nails Inc Baker St. This is my personal favorite combo, I'm wearing it right now! This is so much more vibrant in real life, curse you Baker St for being so amazing and impossible to photograph!

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The Man With The Golden Gun should be available this month, if it's not already in stores near you. Retail price is $30.

*some of the polishes in this post were provided for review, The Man With The Golden Gun, Nails Inc Baker St and the Essie polishes were purchased by me*

The biggest thing keeping me from buying one of these gold topcoats is that I can't stand the thought of what I'd do after the mani came off--just throw away the little cotton balls covered in 18k gold??? The hoarder in me just can't do it! Haha

The look reminds me of an Easter egg, especially with that lighter greenish blue color. But I think its a waste of gold, i'd rather the gold be in my jewelry. I'm sure they could make a cheap knockoff that looks like gold but isn't.

Your swatches are great but at £30 I think I'll give this one a miss. I do love the bottle but thankfully (for my wallet) I'm not totally impressed with the look of it. Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the polishes though :)

I have the Deborah Lippmann 24k topcoat, while pretty, it looks like any gold color glitter topcoat. Then, my boyfriend got me the Sephora 18k topcoat, which is amazing, but all the flakes are very tiny and delicate. I feel like I NEED this one too, to have the larger gold leaf looking flakes. The gold is stunning over blue, I love it over the Birchbox Color Club Insta This cobalt.

I'm glad I got the SOPI one. I got it for $9.00 in the JCP Sephora! Its got MUCH more coverage with one coat without dabbing. BUT the gold pieces are much smaller. I have to admit, I want to buy this one JUST for the packaging, but the $30.00 will keep me away!

I was planning on buying the Bond OPI gold flake top coat, since it is the same price as the Sephora by OPI one, but it seems so much more sparse than the Zoya one...Not that I have a choice now bc the Zoya is sold out. But I'm almost afraid to buy the OPI one since I cannot see the polish inside the bottle...

I went hunting for some of the Essie Winter 2012 polishes you show here - came up empty - not in my area yet. I have my first 3 bottles of Man With Golden Gun - a couple more yet to come (if they don't end up not making it - this is been over sold by OPI and distribution centers are not able to fill all orders. I am liking it a lot more than I thought I would. I don't shake mine - it might break up the flakes. So I rube it between my palms - or I invert the bottle. Least it's not your seen it a zillion times gold glitter and is a big improbement over the 24kt OPI for Sephora relased this summer - will be interested to see how it compairs with Zoya's similar - that ships the 15th.

I also just got this polish and swatched it on my blog with Tomorrow never Dies. I love the polish and of all the gold flakes real or fake this is my favorite. My bottle has a lot of flakes and had no issues with getting good amount on in first application compared to other but I did the same as you I applied then added in places where it was sparse. I like this a lot and recommend it to everyone. The Zoya one isn't as nice to me seems more like the Essie Luxe Effects gold shimmer top coat this looks more yellow gold, and you can tell it is real 18k gold leafing.

I keep going back & forth on whether or not if I need this. Who am I kidding, I do not really need it. But I have to say, from all the swatches I've seen, I'm a bit disappointed at how sparse this is. The gold flakes are so small. I like my Rococo Gold Leaf much more.

I got the Rococo 24kt Gold Leaf Lacquer a few years ago when it first came out. I love love LOVE it but it was (and still is) very expensive though. I think the flakes in the Rococo version are larger in size than the OPI and also more dense...though I don't think anyone has done side-by-side comparisons. Since I already own the Rococo version I'll be skipping TMWTGG (and Zoya) because I can't justify spending money on something so similar to something I already own. LOVE your manis with TMWTGG over Where's My Chauffeur? and both reds so much!!! *drool* '''O:

And OMG why why why hasn't my pro nail supply gotten the holiday Essies??!? I haven't found them at Target or elsewhere either. >.< *dying!!!* Thanks so much for the sneak peek! I can't wait to see your swatches and review! Looks like Essie has a fun, bright happy collection for the holidays (and that red glitter! ahhh!!!)! :D

American Apparel also has a gold flake top coat called Meteor Shower. I really like the formula and have worn it over the AA Black (called Hassid), it was such a cool, edgy look! The obvious difference here is the flakes are not real gold but if that's not an issue for you it retails for $6 a bottle so you can't beat that!

I would feel so classy with gold flakes on my nails! :p It's really pretty with the "Where's My Chauffeur?" and the name definitely suits the whole look. I love the idea of real gold, but personally I would be scared to use it since its so pricey. Looks amazing though!